There are a variety of online web-based services that require a user to create an individual login account in order to access the online service and to provide a level of security to information held by the provider of the service. These online services might include, for example, web-based email sites, chat forums, online payment sites, web stores, social networking sites and media sites, as well as many other online services.
Recently, attacks against such sites have become more commonplace. In many cases, attackers have been able to steal user login information, such as user account details, passwords and even credit card numbers.
In high-profile cases, the news of such attacks may be broadcast by news stations and stories may be carried in newspapers and on news websites. However, this may not always be the case and it is difficult for users to be aware of which web resources have been attacked and/or compromised.